Flight Attendant's Account of Troop Deployment from Alexandria LA to Frankfurt Germany

Dallas Golden Corridor Republican Women's Email | March 5, 2003 | S. Albertson

[PlanoMike]

From an American Airlines Flight Attendant, February 20, 2003

Dear Friends:

I have just returned from doing a small part in our efforts against world conflict. Just got home early from Frankfurt after having picked up a planeload of troops in Alexandria LA and taking them one leg of their trip....onward. They had just gotten word 24 hours earlier that full alert was "on" and they were getting ready to be transported.

We arrived in Alexandria on the military airfield in our 777, and the busses were waiting. The troops started to appear from the busses and they were all dressed in their desert uniforms. They looked so clean! Everything was new, including the weapons. Every soldier had a big gun, and some had knives hanging off their belts, too. They were young.

We were told that all weapons were unloaded, and that all the ammo was in the belly. Upon arrival at their destination, they would be given ammo, and they were on full alert and active duty as of the moment of landing at their destination. They had camel packs on their backs, too, and we were told that each soldier had 2 liters of water in those. Each soldier was also given 3 K ration packages to get them through the journey. (We feed and watered them with a good meal and lots of soft drinks, too.)

First class was filled with the rank, and also some very young men and women. We figured it out fast...they had won a prize...and another right guess....they were all sharpshooters. Business class was filled with the best of the sharpshooters, too. Even though all got the same food and the same service, these soldiers were thrilled to be in a big seat on an airliner, and they kidded each other about getting to sit in the better cabins.

Comaraderie filled the air in every cabin and there was lots of intermingling as they explored who got what, and how wonderful it was to be transported on an airliner with a crew and service! I never heard so many people say m'am in my life. They treated us with respect, and boy, we treated them that way, too. We couldn't do enough for them. "No," was not in our vocabulary! If we had it...they got it. Without exception, all the crew felt the same way.

We all felt that it was a great honor to be able to participate in getting these troops over there. Some of the flight crew had to step into the lavs and cry occasionally. I had a lump in my throat the entire flight. I was proud to be part of this....so proud!

We stepped over guns, we served cokes, we listened to stories, we served a meal, and then the soldiers took over. They got out in the aisle in their desert uniforms and passed out water and candy. They seemed to get a charge out of taking over from us, and maybe they had an alterior motive, too, because those guys got every crumb of extra food that we had. They were young men and they were hungry!

I could go on and on about some of the stories I heard, but I will just close by saying that when we landed, we all had tears. A few of the guys passed out the door with, "Would you mind kissing me, m'am?" My response was, "You bet I'll kiss you." I put lots of lipstick on lots of cheeks, and the guys just grinned.

The pride in country and uniform is overwhelming in a situation like this. I remember my Dad, the three wars he fought in, the pride with which he wore his uniform, his patriotism, his absolute belief that the United States was worth giving your life for, and that he survived it all.

God Bless America. I am so grateful to have been able to do something....anything...for our boys and girls, too. Lets hope against all hope that every single one of them comes home to their families.

[Mister Baredog]

We all felt that it was a great honor to be able to participate in getting these troops over there. Some of the flight crew had to step into the lavs and cry occasionally. I had a lump in my throat the entire flight. I was proud to be part of this....so proud!

There goes a promising Hollywood career

[lawdog]

Easy Red Ryder, this story has already been all over the airwaves since last friday.

[OldCorps]

Nope,

I flew via commercial carrier as part of my brigade from the same departure point (England Air Force Base) to Edwards Air Force base for training at NTC. Individual weapons were carried. This was back in 88 or 87.

Yea, the wording is a bit off, i can't really determine authenticity. However, Ft. Polk is no longer a TO&E duty station, its now a training base. I really can't think of any reason an active duty unit army unit would deploy from there. Don't know much about the reserves or other services though.

fwiw

[B4Ranch]

Yes,on my 2nd tour, in commercial aircraft, I carried my rifle by my side to DaNang and back to the States by my side. The trip home was a comedy because all of us were carrying loaded rifles. Somewhere along the line an M-14 with a clip in it just looked normal to everyone.

[PlanoMike]

One Hour BTTT !

[VeniVidiVici]

However, Ft. Polk is no longer a TO&E duty station, its now a training base. I really can't think of any reason an active duty unit army unit would deploy from there.

I was with the 5th ID at Ft Polk in 86-87. We did have a LA National Guard roundout brigade. I would guess that even though 5ID is no more the LA brigade still exists. Perhaps that is what flew out of Alexandria.

[homeagain balkansvet]

Has anyone her EVER deployed on a commercial aircraft (charter) and hand carried their weapons? The only time I have ever hand a weapon with me is on a quick trip via a Black Hawk...and only because we were unsure of the situation on the ground. These guys were going to Frankfurt. Surely the weapons would be crated and loaded with other cargo.

I did, when I went to Bosnia a (very) few years ago. Handcarried my M16 (with all accoutraments except live ammo) through two major European airports. Nobody said a word.

[Yasotay]

Has anyone her EVER deployed on a commercial aircraft (charter) and hand carried their weapons? The only time I have ever hand a weapon with me is on a quick trip via a Black Hawk...and only because we were unsure of the situation on the ground. These guys were going to Frankfurt. Surely the weapons would be crated and loaded with other cargo.

I remember flying to Panama on a civilian charter with my whole unit and we carried all our weapons onboard. This has been routine since at least the 1970s.

[Travis McGee]

She is telling it true, the troops hand carry their rifles on the planes.

[tuknet]

Some of this sounds suspect... I believe it’s accurate, regardless of the story’s age. My wife is a FA for AA out of DC. We were talking about these particular charters last week. Only the most senior FA’s out of the many that bid for these charters get to work these flights. The entire airline gears up for military deployments, including the service crew, ramp rats, caterers, etc. The flight crew feel honored to participate in these programs.

[zlala]

Thank you for posting this. It reminds me how many people we never even think of are involved in this effort. And how many people SUPPORT this effort. BTW, I did a search on Snopes.com (urban legend site) and found nothing like this there. So I'm going to believe it's "for real". Thank you again.

z

[PlanoMike]

Thank You!

[ChuckHam]

Man, this brings back memories. It seems like only yesterday I was a young SSgt climbing into a KC-10 on a hot as hell day in August of 1990. Myself along with the rest of my CE unit deployed to Saudi Arabia in support of our A-10 wing. We kicked some ass back then and we're going to do it again.

It's good to see ol' England Air Force Base is still in good enough shape to deploy Fort Polk soldiers out of.

[OldCorps]

No kidding! its a small world! i was in 1/61 inf for a while. how about you?

No way the army is going to deploy a NG brigade (the 256 as I recall) untill they have trained and are up to speed. that means a long time at NTC. You might recall this is what happened with the 48th (i think) bde, of the Texas NG during desert storm. They went on intensive training, not sure about NTC, but were never deployed because the war was over so quickly. The mobilization that is going on is for combat support and css, mostly from the reserves i would guess. the exception is aviators.

[fish70]

Yep, I flew back from Haiti on a chartered 747 carrying 3 M-16A2's in 1994

[VeniVidiVici]

Hey OldCorps! Good to meet ya!

I was in the 105th MI Bn. I used to have great fun during exercises. Had my own jeep and, um, special radio gear :-)

Very good memory, btw. I had forgotten the 256th designation. I remember one time during an exercise I was tooling down this trail, come around a bend and there is an M60 in flames! Three or four tankers from the 256th were under a tree about 20ft from the tank hacking and coughing. After I coaxed them away from the tank I let them use my radio to call their HQ. Looking back on it, it was quite funny.

You're dead on about the 48th too. I remember the story about them going to NTC to train. Armor, wasn't it?

I know the two NTC rotations we went to from Ft Polk we flew on C141s. When I was in the 101st, we used C141 once and Arrow Air one other time. Heck, does Arrow Air still exist?

[rangerX]

Has anyone her EVER deployed on a commercial aircraft (charter) and hand carried their weapons?

Sure have. Deployed to SA in 1990, and redeployed from SA in 1991 in Desert Storm. When we hit the runway at Pope AFB on return, the 747 crew had gathered up the battalion colors, and all the company guidons, and about halfway through the touchdown roll, they popped the top hatch and flew the flags. The civilian crews were great to us.

[lodwick]

bttt

[ladtx]

I've seen news reports on TV with pictures of units boarding civilian airplanes with weapons.